A CBS News poll out today suggests widespread disappointment with President Obama, as two-thirds of Americans say he has been an average or poor president, far below their expectations. Mr. Obama entered office amid broad optimism for his presidency, but the poll underscores the large gap that now exists between those expectations and the public’s tepid assessment 21 months later.
In January 2009, just before Mr. Obama took office, nearly 7 in 10 Americans in a New York Times/CBS News poll said they thought he would be a very good or good president. Only 2 in 10 said they thought he would turn out to be an average president, and a mere 4 percent said he would be a poor one.
When Americans are asked now what kind of president Mr. Obama has been, however, the numbers are quite different. Just a third say he has been a very good or good president, while 39 percent say he has been an average one and 27 percent say he has been a poor president.
Not surprisingly, Democrats are far more likely to say Mr. Obama has been a very good or good president than independents or Republicans are. Six in 10 Democrats say so, compared with fewer than 3 in 10 independents and only about 1 in 10 Republicans, the poll found.
Still, that falls far short of even Democrats’ expectations. In January 2009, 9 in 10 Democrats said Mr. Obama would be a very good or good president, as did about two-thirds of independents. Republicans’ expectations were much lower at the time, with fewer than 4 in 10 saying they thought Mr. Obama would be a very good or good president.
No doubt economic conditions and unemployment are a big factor in Americans’ ratings of Mr. Obama’s presidency. They have been by far the top issues concerning Americans throughout his term, and the new poll finds just 38 percent now approve of his handling of the economy, a new low in Times or CBS News polls.
The CBS News poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 1-5 among 1,129 adults nationwide. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
